Now, I wanna be honest in this and keep it short. To me this concert has got to be the best G3, Satch or Vai concert i've ever seen, and I saw them do the G3 for the first time when I was 8. The sound was amazing, much better than in the NIA where I saw them a few days before this, the set list seemed more full and longer including all the songs I would have put down. Another big difference was the fact that Joe , Steve and the bands, seemed to actually enjoy playing!! Unlike in Birminham, which is understandable, IT WAS THE ALBERT HALL! However the above is very biased, as I was sitting 5 rows from the front, which gave me great view, sound and even interaction! At the end I even shook Steves hand from the front of the stage and got a pic! But It was quite obvious to me that if you were sitting far far back in the very upper tiers, or even in the area...behind the stage! The sound and view would have failed to impress big time. I personally had an amazing time and couldnt believe it when i was holding the hand of a.....well.....guitar freak! but I can see how any other fan attending with a bad seat would have found this concert to be rather annoyingly bad. Therefore based on this, I would much rather see Steve and Joe playing their 2 new releases (Vai later this year) in a sound, small and greatly organised venue such as Shepards Bush Empire, which to me gives an equal and amazing night to everyone there. And please Joe for any further gigs, take your hat off so we can actually see you!! Chow, ***Red5atriani***

this was my first g3 and it was fucking excellent! fripp was first on, strangely sticking to the far left hand corner of the stage! his music was strange and interesting but after 10 minutes it got boring. it all sounded fairly similar as well! this provoked many fans to start calling out at fripp with such quotes as 'play your guitar you wazzock' i thought these people were pricks. why ruin it a) for the fans who are enjoying it and b) for him, because in the end fripp is undoubtedly better on guitar than them anyway. Vai was up next! fucking brilliant i was amazed at every song being so perfect! the only problem was all the band drowned eachother out, and billy sheehans bass was too quiet. Satriani was amazing as expected. his sound was perfect to that of his cd's and he played really loud! always with me always with you was a real treat, as was cool#9! the jam was fucking sick and fripp showed the wankers who were shouting at him by playing fucking lightning quick! even though he was fairly quiet compared to vai and satriani who were as expected also playing disgustingly fast and perfect! all in all, best night of this year! thanks for a great night!

Well, it was bloody amazing!!
this was the first time ive seen satch (or the other two come to think of it), and id been looking forward to it as soon as i knew i had a ticket, i seriously couldnt wait, couldnt sleep, it really was a dream to see satch play live!
I was a little annoyed to discover that there was gonna be an underground strike that night so travelling to the RAH was a bit of a pain.
Although i knew that we had seats a fair distance from the stage, was a little shocked to step out on the top balcony 60 odd feet up! A challenge for my huge fear of heights! After a beer, and a bit of time to relax, Fripp came on, i have to say i was a little confused by his set, i didnt know what he looked like at first and thought he was just tuning up some guitars whilst there was a pre-recorded sequanced introduction, not really my taste of music and felt really sorry for the poor guy after the numerous heckles (i think you all heard them, so dont need repeating!). Although not really what i had paid to see, i quite enjoyed chilling out to Fripps set just sitting back gazing up at the roof and the mushrooms hanging above my head, i felt like i was in some kind of futuristic movie!
Vai, although having poor sound played well, getting a great reception from the crowd. I really loved whispering a prayer, the feeling in that track blew me away!! and also like the 3 knecked ibanez at the beginning of his set. Exactly how many JEMS had Vai brought with him! He appeared to have a new one each song!!!
I was a little annoyed at missing the first 20 seconds of satch (due to long queues for the toilets!) but got into my seat before anything really kicked off.
This is what id been dreaming about for the last couple of months, to actually see satch playing away infront of me was absolutely amazing! Even though i was probably seated as far from the stage as you could possibly get, i was still impressed with my veiw, i could even see his fingering! (although i wish i had taken binoculars as some others clearly had!)
Satchs set was great although i think he did hit a couple of bum notes in the first couple of songs but nothing to worry about!! and its good to see that even satch makes mistakes sometimes!!!
Shame the sound let you guys down, i dont think loud is always best!
I was lucky to see this gig and think it was fully worth every penny i paid for it! i will definately be making a huge effort to come and see you guys again as soon as you are back in UK,
Keep up the good work,
Doug

EXCELLENT!!!, all, three were brilliant. and Robert Fripps music, took me back to a time when i was 13 years old listening to Tangerine Dream (anyone remember them?)....The sets were good and varied, but i would like to hear some Zappa played during the jam at the end, considering how much time Steve spent with him..especially Stevies Spanking song!!!!
All in all, a thoroughly excellent gig, and meeting them all afterwards, and having photos with them, and getting my stuff signed by everyone was just the best.

This was a fantastic concert the best night of my young life. I left my house after a mediocore (rubbish) day at school hoping that night would make up for it. It took me ages to get there so I didn't have time to stop for Dinner. I thought i'd get some there and i did, It cost £2.50 for a mars bar and a pack of kettles, Good old RAH! I met my friend outside the doors at 6.45 and we arragned to meet later on. As i made my way up to the choir i was worried aboiut having limited view but that wasn't any trouble. I could see everything in the arena! After getting abit impatient the crowd kicked up and i was eager to see if fripp had come up yet. It was just an attractive woman being cheered by everyone, so why not join in? A minute after out came rob, he sat in his corner and began to play. It was good for a while but then we felt it got repetive, we expected him to suddenly burst out but nothing happened. After several comments being shouted at him (eg, it has six strings, use them! and "play some guitar you W*****") i decided to chat to the people just down from me who were also there to see satch. Eventually his slot finished and he left the stage. If he'd 1. played it faster and 2. made it clear what he was playing it would have been a lot better. My dad walked out just before the end and just came back at the begining of the vai band bit.Then Vai came on with his fan and his 3-neck. He played a lot of decent stuff on it and then out came his band. I have to say that his band where outstanding as was he, But his drummer (sorry i forgotten his name) was amazing. The best i'd and my dad have ever seen. As i don't know vai's songs too well i can't really comment but he worked well with the crowd and his band did some execellent stuff. He did some very clever acting with the music, such as moving to the floor and miming growling when he played a certain note. My dad said he played his best song of the night which is called something like "waiting for God" After that the interval so i legged it down to the stall to buy some t-shirts and meet up with the others who were also having a blast. I just got back in time for Satch which was my highlight of the evening. He was so good I was thanking god i got two of the last 4 tickets. He started off with the classic satch boogie then played his newer songs with others such as flying in a blue dream, always with me always with you (which was fantastic) and the best solo song of the night 'War' After chatting with the audience, fantastic songs, joke and waving at my section of the crowd after the guy just down from me screamed 'I love you hat Joe!' the others came out. Fripp still sat in the corner but actually played some guitar. After the 'ceremonial bow' between Vai and Satch the G3 experience began with Ice9, which was my best of the night, Fripp was drowned out a bit but did an amazing solo showing us what he can do. Then came the King Crimson section in which they played 'Red' Very well indeed. Finally came "Rockin' in the Free World" played and sang amazingly. It left the crowd to raptuous applause and screaming for more. It was the best night of my young life and one of the best my dad had had too! Well done You guys!

the first concert i ever been to. it was sooo amzing. Steve Vai started the eveing for me, with his beautiful triple neck. I returned from the break and joe was on stage - he blew everyone away. The night finished with an amazing jam. G3 AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL WAS AMAZING

G3 - 2004 at the London Royal Albert Hall…. What a night!!!!! Joe was on TOP form. I’ve never seen him at his best before, he was outstanding. Is it me, or did Joe seem to work the stage more? Another thing I’ve noticed is in his change of style for stage clothing…… all for the better of course!! New guitars, new amps, new clothes, new moves….. New JOE!!!! Honestly Joe steals the night. His songs where spot on, every note sounded perfect, all songs sounding far better than the originals. I know Joe to be shy and humble person, but this new ‘confidence’ in terms of having a stage persona is a really good thing. Normally people look towards Vai as the man to grab the attention, having the confidence and being the show man that he is (which is why I think people go towards Steve more than Joe), but with Joe’s new ‘Image’ he is going to go a long way! Robert Fripp was on stage first, but unknowingly. Whilst everybody was still finding their seats all of a sudden, in a very dark corner of the stage, a ‘noise’ (if that’s what you can call it) plagues our nice quiet air space!! To tell the truth it was 30 minutes of crap. It was just pure noise. He done more twiddling on his effects rack and spinning round on his stall than actually playing…… it was awful!! Sincerely it was just utter ‘noise-crap’ (Hey, a new word!)!!! I even believe I heard someone shout out ‘Where’s Yngwie!!!!!!?’, to which some old fart shouted back ‘Shut-up asshole!!’ (Or words to that effect). Towards the end of his set whilst everybody in the audience was busy talking about what happened in the last episode of Eastenders, you look to the stage and he’s disappeared, with his effect rack still pumping out noise!! After a few moments Vai walks on stage to save us, and the crowd goes wild!!!!!....YEEAHH!!!!! Steve’s set was superb, ‘Whispering’ prayer was the song which stole the audiences hearts, just pure feeling! There were a few feedback bugs and bass problems, but it didn’t stop the enjoyment of the show. It was obvious Steve was very humbled to be playing in such a distinguished and historical hall as noted when he said “… I may even go as far to say this could be a career high-light for me”. All in all Steve was on for about an hour and at the end of the his set I remember thinking ‘How is Joe going to top that?’. After a slight interval everybody arrives back to their seats feeling refreshed. Joe walks on stage and is greeted by an almightily cheer!!! He played a lot of new songs ‘Up in flames’, ‘..love in space’ and ‘hands in the air’, but the song which done it for me was the classic rendition of ‘always with me, always with you’…. it was unbelievable. Joe’s tone sounded mind-blowing, and I hate to say it but it sounds better than his old one. Then finally came the jam, or as Joe said ‘The G3 experience!!!’. Joe and Steve make a great pair and feed off each other immensely, but does this mean that lazy ass Robert Fripp can sit on his fat ass hiding at the side of the stage? It was ridiculous, it was laughable in fact. Joe and Steve basically jammed between themselves whilst Rob hid in the darkness pretending not to be there. He didn’t even jam, well only until Joe pointed his finger at him and put the spot light on him. This guy was SOOOOO RUDE!!!!! To tell the truth I felt like smacking him up the backside of his head!... preferably with a hockey stick!!!! Joe and Steve ran about the stage shared licks and basically fed off each others vibes, while this other guy sat hiding with his arms crossed across his guitar…. NOT EVEN PLAYING!!!!!! ROBERT FRIPP you should NOT be sharing the stage with the likes of Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, YOU ARE NOT WORTHY ENOUGH!!!! Even when it came to the end of the show, the band took to the front of the stage to bow, lazy ass Fripp still sat on his fat ass at the side of the stage in the darkness hiding!!!!!! Anyway’s, not all is bad (believe it or not). The Rocking in a free world cover was fantastic and seeing Steve and Joe on the same stage together is something I have always wanted to see! ---- I managed to buy a limited edition singed G3 poster of Steve, Joe and Robert, but after seeing Robert with his rudeness and his stupid looking face on the poster I’m too embarrassed to hang it up!!! Thank’s Robert Fripp…… NOT!!!!!

My first ever G3 gig! It was an amazing night and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I was a little disappointed at people's reception of Robert Fripp. I'd never heard him before the gig so listened to some King Crimson and was thoroughly impressed. Maybe what he played on the night didn't exactly match up to what Steve and Joe were playing but I gave it a chance and ended up enjoying it. Shame about the people heckling. Maybe to get a little bit more respect from the crowd however, he could have been in the centre of the stage. I was surprised how he hid in the corner and didn't acknowledge the audience at the beginning or end of his piece.

Steve completely blew me away...it was everything I expected and more. Not to mention his band...they too were excellent. I was sitting in the choir section, behind the stage but really close so I was really appreciative when Steve and Joe regularly turned round to wave and play to us too. The looks and smiles I got from them made my evening. Joe's set was awesome as well. I was so glad they did always with me, always with you and satch boogie and from what i heard on the night i'm definitely gonna go out and buy the new album (even on my limited teenage budget :-p)

The G3 jam totally rocked as well, though maybe could have been longer but I knew time was limited and people needed to be out by 11. It was such a great touch to play some crimson and the night ended perfectly with singing along to 'rocking in the free world'. I was disappointed I couldnt stay and try and get some autographs (I brought all my satch, vai, and g3 cds with me in the hope of maybe getting one signed) but because of the tube strike we had to mission it back to victoria station before the last train. thanks so much for making it such a memorable evening.

<edit: from reading other peoples' reviews the sound gets mentioned a lot but I can honestly say I thought the mix was fine from where I was sitting behind the stage in the choir section, though in a building such as the RAH i can understand that the mix may have sounded different in other sections of the hall.>

To start with I have been to a fair few Satriani/Vai gigs, and performance wise this was one of the best. I confess I couldn't tell that Steve was ill, his energy was immense. A real credit to his wonderful professionalism and talent. As performances go this was one of the best I have seen from Joe, I have never seen him jumping off of drum risers before, BRILLIANT!!!
Now anyone reading this is probably wondering why I only gave this a 6. But I am sorry guys the sound was awful! I was in a box seat and it was just dreadful. There was no definition in any of the instruments, and it was hard to make out some of the songs. For such a high class venue I was frankly disgusted. I have seen Vai at the Astoria and Satch at Shephards Bush and in these much smaller less pestigous venues the sound was fantastic, so I know it is not the artists themselves.
However I don't want to take away from what was a brillant evening, Robert Fripp wasn't my cup of tea, I preferred Adrian Legg a few years ago, but I don't agree with some of the reactions to his efforts. Overall, it was brilliant some fantastic performances let down by some poor sound. But I will be back next time Joe or Steve are in the UK.
All the best.

Hi Joe. Thanks for a very enjoyable evening on Tuesday at the RAH. Welcome back to London. I certainly agree with Steve when he said the gig at the Albert Hall was “certainly a career highlight”, I bet it was for both of you, that is outside of your earnings!!. Lets hope your stock price does not plummet now with the emotive and honest reviews from others at this gig. They are right, the sound quality was a lost opportunity as the acoustics, especially at this venue, should have been superb. That’s the whole point, surely not, about playing the Royal Albert Hall, its not for the interior ones plays there but for the performance that the venue affords by very nature of the venues design. That’s why it’s one of the best music venues and coveted by artists all hankering to play there the world over. Mr Fripp was an embarrassment to British rock music. He was appalling, absolutely the wrong choice, after Yngwie it beggars belief why this choice was made. I do not think you could have selected a more stand offish choice, he contributed absolutely nothing to your gig and left fans and admirers both gasping for reason here. This surely was a career low point having read the reviews too, not to mention what I heard others saying after the gig. Eric shines more brightly than ever now, you guys really do need to watch your quality control overall.

Dear Joe,
ALBERT HALL GIG UK
sorry to give you and others a 5 for the show but the sound out front of house was rubbish.
steve vai's set was really bad as the drums and bass just wasn't there in the mix.
i think the sound guy started to hear fans shouting at him in the end as about 3 or 4 songs in on joe's set, the bass and drums started to come through but still wasn't great.
it was a shame as we could see you all playing your hearts out but the sound wasn't as good as it could of been.

. Just read the review on the vai site, it wasn't just the albert hall gig.
sorry to be negative but thats how alot of us felt
nlj
ps. sack the sound man!
pps. come back soon and proove us wrong....

This is a long sad story but it is almost a day after the show and I am still pissed off!

I love Steve and Joe's music and it has been my dream for years now to see them live. I flew all the way from South Africa (15 hrs. connecting via Dubai) for this show as they have never performed there. I have all of their cd's and DVD's (which are trully difficult to get there) and was expecting one hell of a show!

My sister could play better than Robert Fripp and she has never touched a guitar! He may be good in his other band ( I would definately not purchase a cd, not now anyway) but at the show I pissed myself laughing at what he was doing!

Steves sound was shit but I love what he does and was made aware of the fact that he was very ill by his wife, whom I met earlier that day. (understandable)

Joe was an absolute master and blew me away with his awsome sound and performance.

What really pissed me off though was the fact that I stood at the stage door from 10:30 am to meet them for an autograph and a photo And kissed about twenty peoples arses for information on how to get a signature out of them. All I received was snide smirky comments like I dont know or you need to know someone who knows someone.' I met Dave W. but he was trying to look too cool infront of his girlfriend chloe to give a shit about a true fan and could not understand me when I asked for a pass to get my heros signatures. Band members actually laughed and thought it was funny that 'this idiot so badly wants to meet with Joe and Steve'

After watching the show I waited at the stage door till 01:30am only to learn that Joe had already left! All I wanted was for him to put his bloody name on my ticket and to take a photo with him!
I have invested so much money in these guys and felt it was a slap in the fans faces, how these chaps seemed too tired to look after the remaining +/- 20 fans left waiting for them.

I wont ever travel such a distance to see them again as my being a fan seemed like a joke to them. I still adore these guys but will from now on watch them on DVD in my TV room at home.

I was lucky enough to be sitting in a private box for this performance.
My dad has always like Joe and G3... so i decided to go along with him to the concert and the music totally blew me away!! (my ears are still ringing 2 days on)
It was amazing, and it has imspired me to start playing my guitar alot more.

RAH was my first g3 experience. I was on the top circle which was actually just as good as being anywhere else cos the view was great. What completely sucked was the sound. As previously mentioned in reviews of this gig the sound during the jam set and vais set was pretty crap and it was very difficult to distinguish the sounds produced by the individual guitars. I saw fripp jamming in the jam set but couldnt hear a note he played. So that was a major disappointment. Sound aside i felt the overall performance was amazing. Admittedly wasnt a fan of Fripps set but i knew that was because i wasnt aware of the skill involved in producing the sounds he did. The actual set was interesting for the first 5 minutes of each individual piece but i felt it got a bit tedious and i found it difficult to stay awake. I don't believe a guitarist like Fripp was an intelligent choice to make for G3 and would have preferred to see Ywngie because i believe the majority go to g3 to see satch, vai and a guitarist of similar capabilities. That aside thoroughly enjoyed the show and had a great time.

Back from the road. Four of us have been to the last 6 shows ( one of us was at Gasgow but the rest of us were at Jeff Becks first Albert Hall gig). Last night has to go down as the best G3 shows I've been to over the years and I've been to all of them in the UK since Joe started doing these shows with Steve and Adrian Legg in 1997. Throughout the days different venues have had particular sound problems with different parts of the sets mainly due to the nature of the beast, with three different set ups required which become very sensetive to the area of the venue you're sitting in. Best sound quality overall for us was at Bournemouth but I chatted with other folks after that gig who found the sound really bad, what yer gonna do? As I said the Albert Hall gig last night was just the best. The energy in the hall was fantastic the crowd and the musicians were all up for it. I have to buck the overall trend with regard to Roberts set, I found it the perfect foil for the mayhem and magic to follow. The set is in three parts that Robert calls soundscapes, this is how they came over to me. First part was restfull and dreamy, great to relax into and chill. Second part was dark and brooding with a kind of supressed energy. The last part was brighter and uplifting. Altogether I found it thought provoking and most enjoyable. I was able to ask Joe about it later and see if he could explain what Robert was doing, he said that Robert was building up layers of sound and playing things that would come into the mix at varying points sometimes seconds later, he had no idea how he was able to do it. Joes words were. "He really is a true genius".
Onto the rest of the show. Steve was on top form. After a week of a REALLY bad cold he seemed to be 95% better and so pleased to be there, this came through into his playing (not that he has been dissapointing in any way over the rest of the shows he was just back in sparkling form tonight). Others have mentioned the set, the only change over the first 4 days was that he missed out the vocals on the song accompanied by the triple neck. At Nottingham the whole intro part on the triple neck was missed out and replaced with a great version of Shy Boy as Steve had no voice at all. I loved Reaper Rap, really funky groove with all the usual Steve antics. The highlight for me was whispering a prayer wonderfully played with a melody I cant get out of my head.
What can you say about Satch? Everything we have come to expect and love over the years and then some. Playing full of energy with all the consumate skill and emotion that is Satch's signature. Highlights for me were Cool #9 with a super cool extended intro but Always with me was the best I,ve heard with a powerfull extended ending that was just brilliant he went through just about every emotion on just that one song. A fantastic 6 nights topped of with the best one ever.
Thanks to all of you guys, we'll hopefully see you soon. John Cook.

hey there i gotta say, when vai was on the sound was kindas appalling, i couldnt hear billy on bass and the drums just swallow'd everything up. but just watching him play made it all up for me he is an amazing guitarist and i hope to see him live in his on show. But when satch came on, fuck me he was awesome, he even played satch boogie i love that song so much, hearing that finished it up for me, he fucking rocked, the songs of ITLIS? sounded better live than on the c.d. Mr Satriani your are trully an axe god. Jamie-lee Blues

The reason im giving this performance a low score is because I was disappointed with the sound. Fripp opened the show and after having read some reviews I was expecting the worst. I actually found this part of the show quite relaxing and I thought some of the soundscapes were good. Trouble was it went on too long with no variation. I was sitting in the circle somewhere up in the heavens as far from the stage as possible. Terrible seats but at this point good sound. Not only this but it was like a furnace in there. Then came steve vai, great performance, his band is so tight and I loved the way the opening track built up. Am I just imaging but from the back I could see most of the crowd and after fripp, they just seemed sort of drained and it took a long time for them to warm up. Maybe it was just the stress and traffic and the damn tube strikes which certainly ruined the start for me. Highlights included for the love of god and whispering a prayer. It was a shame that the sound wasn’t good. The bass guitar got lost and steves playing was hard to distinguish. Only the piercing high notes really came through. So many of the reviews here are from people who were sitting in the arena so im guessing the sound down there was great but from where I was sitting it was not. The best moments sound wise were when steves guitar was playing alone like during whispering a prayer. Then joe came on and by this time most of the audience had warmed up. (I say most cos even at the end after the jam there were many people in the circle who didn’t even give a standing ovation, were they at the wrong concert or was it the bad sound?) Some of the new stuff from is there love in space was brilliant especially searching. Flying in a blue dream was beautiful. The extended solo on always with me always with you was awesome. Joes set overall wasn’t as loud but was better sound quality. The jam at the end really highlighted the poor sound. I could barely hear fripp at all and it was difficult to make out joe and steves stuff. Still, rocking in the free world was great. Is it the royal albert hall or just the sound techs turning the volume on all the instruments to 11. My real rating is a 9 cos hey its G3 and whats better than flyingIABD and for love of god. Joe and Steve come back soon but try the Astoria or Empire again, better sound and standing areas for a better atmosphere. The royal albert hall maybe beautiful but it wasn’t made for the loudest rock guitar gigs, at least if your high up in the circle.

Well, this was the second show of this tour that I’ve seen, and the contrast between the London and Birmingham gigs was interesting. Whereas, to these ears, the highlights of Saturday’s show were Steve Vai’s performance and Joe’s extended version of ‘Always with me, always with you’, last night Fripp ruled. What an incredible piece of improvisation. As his guitar parts were sampled and looped and resampled and looped again the music built up into unspeakably beautiful and intricate soundscapes. For one man to improvise for half an hour like that with a single guitar, never playing a wrong note, and to create something that beautiful is astonishing. It is just a shame that some members of the audience didn’t seem able to appreciate any note that wasn’t a heavily distorted hemi-demi-semi-quaver. The hostility that Mr Fripp has encountered on this tour is incredible. I understand that what he is playing might not appeal to all, but if you don’t like it, go and get a drink or something – Joe and Steve will be on soon enough. There is no need to spoil the concert for others by booing or heckling, and Fripp deserves more respect. Consider the following:
1) Fripp’s technique is incredible. Listen to ‘Frakctured’ [sic] or ‘The Construction of Light’. There are only a handful of people in the world whose technique is good enough to play these pieces. Those shred-heads bemoaning Fripp’s performance should listen to ‘Frakctured’ and shut up. He may not be shredding on this tour, but that’s partly because this is a man who has nothing to prove.
2) Fripp has developed a rock style which owes absolutely nothing to the blues. This makes him unique as far as I know, and is a major achievement. Have you ever heard anything like the solos on Bowie’s ‘Scary monsters’ or ‘Fashion’?
3) He pioneered the use of unusual time signatures in rock music and helped to invent prog rock. Without Fripp there would be no Dream Theater, and no ‘And Justice for All…’ era Metallica.
4) He helped to invent ambient music with Brian Eno on ‘No pussyfooting’.
5) Through the Guitar Craft courses he set up he is personally responsible for a major expansion of the repertoire for acoustic guitar ensemble.
6) He was one of the pioneers of guitar synths.
7) He has pushed for a more demanding form of improvisation than is commonly found in rock in which, rather than have the guitarists soloing over a set chord progression or riff, bass, drums and guitar all improvise their parts simultaneously. Can your band do this?
8) Fripp has played some of the best guitar solos ever. Consider ‘Hammond Song’ by the Roches, or ‘The night watch’ by King Crimson.
One final thought: as I understand it, the reason that he sits at the back almost out of sight is that he feels that running around posing is a distraction from the serious business of listening to the music. You might disagree with that, but it should not be seen as rudeness. I may not like every CD that Mr Fripp releases, but given his record of constant innovation I am prepared to listen to him with respect, and I wish that others could bring themselves to extend him the same courtesy. So you don’t like it- that’s fine, but why be offensive? I thought it was great to be able to see three of my favourite guitarists playing together: I just wish that the atmosphere hadn’t been poisoned by some members of the audience.

WELL.... I THINK EVERYONE HAS SAID WHAT SHOULD BE SAID ABOUT ROBERT FRIPP AND I MUST AGREE THAT HE WAS NOT RIGHT FOR THAT GIG, BUT I AM NOT GONNA SLATE THE GUY. STEVE VAI PULLED OUT ALL THE GOOD OLD TRICKS, BUT HIS GUITAR WAS KILLING ME. IT WAS TOO LOUD AND WITH THE WHAMMY PEDAL DOING THE CRAZY OCTAVE STUFF I THOUGHT MY HEAD WOULD POP!! (SHOULD HAVE WORN EARPLUGS) WHERE WAS THE BASS AND DRUMS IN THE WHOLE VAI SET. VAI WAS GREAT BUT THE ASTORIA GIGS WHERE THE BEST OF HIM IVE SEEN. JOE IS THE NUTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I WAS IN ROW 20 AND HEARD HARDLY ANY BASS OR DRUMS IN THE FIRST TWO TRACKS, BUT JOE WAS ROCKING. THE SOUND GOT BETTER FROM THERE ONWARDS. LOTS OF NEW SONGS THAT WERE VERY GOOD ESPECIALLY GNAAHH! "ALWAYS" MUST HAVE TURNED INTO ONE OF MY FAVORITE SONGS IVE EVER SEEN LIVE. BEAUTIFUL. I DID MISS SOME OF THE CLASSICS THOUGH. JOE'S SOUND , PERFORMANCE , AND PRESENCE WHERE THE BEST I HAVE EVER SEEN FROM HIM. HE WAS DEFINATELY THE HIGHLIGHT. HE LOOKS LIKE HE IS GETTING YOUNGER BY THE NOTE !!!!!!! GREAT JAM BUT I THOUGHT IT WAS G3 NOT G2. WHY WAS HE STILL SITTING DOWN! (ROBERT FRIPP).
JOE FOR ME OUTCLASSED VAI AND EASILY FRIPP. HIS IS INSPIRATIONAL.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! STEVE LUKATHER AND JEFF BECK FOR G3 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This was my first ever Satch gig, first G3 gig. I spent hard earned cash to be insulted for 30minutes by a synthesized soundscape i could produce on a PC.
I cannot play the guitar as well as JS or SV. I went to see the stuff i cannot do, not be sent to sleep. It ruined the whole event. Several years ago i had a ticket, and my wife went into hospital and i missed the gig, so this was something i was really excited about. Mr Fripp ruined it.

And on a personal note Joes stuf was great but lets have some more of the mellow tunes toooooo please

Well that's very strange 'cos when I got in last night from what has to be the poorest gig I've ever been to, I posted the following review and it never appeared :-

Note to Messers Satriani, Vai and Sheehan :-

at the soundcheck, go FOH and listen to what the punters, the PAYING punters, are gonna hear !

I'm so disappointed and not a little angry that I've just walked in from the show, it's now 1:15am and I've just got to get this off my chest. The sound tonight was absolutely apalling - when Steve started his set, my mate and I turned to each other in disbelief - there was no bass in the mix. There was Billy Sheehan up on stage, one of THE best bass players in the world and you couldn't hear him. Neither could you hear the drum kit and at times the whole mix just descended into mush.

It had taken me nearly two and a half hours to get to the show (and two hours to get back), not to mention the GBP30.00 for a ticket and the whole thing was a joke.

I'm so disappointed 'cos Joe is my absolute hero, I have loads of his stuff on CD, I buy the tab books and instructional stuff, he is THE man and Steve is equally awesome and it's the first time I've actually seen him live but what a disappointment. The FOH engineer needs to be sacked, turning everything up to 11 is not how you mix.

Joe's set was very disappointing, apart from the appalling sound, had the band had a big row before going on stage ? It was a very by the numbers set, although it pains me to say it...and by the way Joe, ditch the Peavey amp and go back to Marshall.

The other thing is...what the hells up with Robert Fripp ? I'd read some very unflattering reviews of his set but I went there open-minded and it was OK, definitely not worth the heckling from certain idiots in the crowd but why sit almost off stage. He didn't even take a bow at the end...can't he walk or something ?

I'm sure Steve and Joe will never read these postings but it's a real shame 'cos they need to know that the FOH sound is way, way below the standard they should expect.

An awesome G3 concert, the likes of which I had never expected to experience in such an esteemed and professional venue as the RAH.
All the guys played superb sets, with an excellent sound setup (though sometimes slightly lacking in overall clarity of sound). For me, the highlight was seeing Joe for the first time since Birmingham Academy on the SBMTour (where he seemed a little off the pace, tired and unhappy with things)... and also the superb King Crimson piece! Much respect!
I'm a huge KC fan, and I have a lot of respect for Mr. Fripp. I was rather dissappointed to read recent reviews that he was not really up to scratch. I personally found his set to be very good, but I do think he created his own problems in his lack of displayed appreciation of the crowd. You make your own enemies in life, and crowds of most music genres like to see the artists communicate just a little. He's still a hero of mine and I feel a bit sorry for him, with all the jeering he got from the crowd.
All in all though, it was an amazing evening.

I've been waiting to see Joe and Steve for 8 years now, and last nights gig was just what I expected! Both fantastic players with great stage presence. I had a spot on view where I could see what the guys were doing on stage with their foot pedals etc.
Standout songs from Vai: Whispering a Prayer, Answers, For the Love of God, Giant Balls of Gold.

Satch rocked the house with plenty footstompers: I Like the Rain, Cool *9, Flying in a Blue Dream, Always, and War which is my favourite. Although I would have enjoyed Summer Song.

I think the sound levels could have been controlled better, as it was LOUD!! But good loud.

Well what can i say this is my first G3 show and it was one of the most amazing things i have ever seen live. Im very undecided on fripp, after 10 mins of his whale impressions i went 4 a quick beer and a fag, i wasnt the only one out there with the same idea. vai was unreal loved the three necked at the begining, havent heard much of his stuff before but i shall be looking more in to his music after last night. Brilliant..... Satch, U THE MAN. He played a blinder made my day, im quite new to his music, only wish i had found it 10 years ago. i walked out of there with a smile from ear to ear. Hope we see u back in england very very soon. Thanks for a superb evening.

P.S
PLEASE...............................
Did anyone get photos of the show that wouldnt mind getting copies of. My battery went flat in my camera before the show. Not impressed. A quick message to let me know would be so much appriciated. Thanks.
(Entwistle17@hotmail.com)

Hi Joe !... I thought I was gonna cry when I saw my place.. "up in the sky" ! I couldn't see very well, but... I heard ! (A bit loud by the way...)
I'm so used to be close to the stage... the last time I saw Steve Vai, I managed to touch his guitar srings !!! So I was a bit frustrated...
Anyway I really enjoyed the show, and I mean all the show even if the nusty public booed at Dave Weiner about his album (a lot of jailous people I guess) and just booed again Robert Fripp in the end !...
I was so happy to see that you're still the Joe Satriani I enjoy listening to for 15 years now...
I can't wait to see you again, maybe a bit closer to the stage this time !...

This is the second G3 show I attend and I must say it was great. A lot of energy there. Some narrow minded people didn't like Robert Fripp's performance but it was absolutely cool. The entire show was great, but I was sitting at the back of the stage and the audio was terrible. The sound engineer didn't notice that Joe and Steve's guitars were not audible in the back. Strangely, McAlpine guitar was perfectly audible as well as the drums and the keyboards. That was really frustrating. Even the musicians looked disatisfied with the audio.
Robert: Interesting but very short performance. He is a very cool guitarist but If you expect only flashy solos, his atmospheric and conceptual show would dissapoint you. I REALLY enjoyed his performance.
Vai: The same show I have been looking on other G3 shows and videos. Fantastic but VERY much the same.
Joe: Finally he managed to make some changes to his show! His performance was absoultely great. He was the highlight of the night and every song was exciting and powerful. I have seen Joe live a lot of times and I can say he is at his best.
G3 Jam: It was grrrreat. I only wish they played more songs together.

I turned up at door 1 of the Albert hall and waited to go in at around 7pm.
This door is right next to the stage door and out walks Vai's drummer Jeremy Colson. Not a single person standing in the queue recognized him. He walked past us all and sat down in a doorway. I walked over and asked him if it was OK to take a picture of him with my son and he was absolutely fine about it. I returned to the queue and from the same stage door, out walks Vai's guitarist Dave Weiner. Same thing happened, I asked for a picture and he obliged. I jokingly asked if he had any spare meet & greet passes to give away, he searched his pockets and pulled out 1 backstage pass. Yessssssssssssss!!!

I went in and watched the show, I had already seen G3 in bournemouth:

Fripp: I couldn't see him from where I was seated on the left but he played great for 30 minutes.

Vai: Awesome again. He plainly enjoyed playing the Albert hall.

Satriani: Great energetic show, he was running around all over the place.

G3 Jam: Great feeling toward the end, all three players played great.

After the show I made my way to the meet & greet and as I only had 1 pass (kindly donated by Dave Weiner), I gave it to my son. As I stood outside the room waiting for my son to come out, Robert Fripp walked past me. I complimented him on his playing and he said thanks. I was then asked to leave the building by security. I politely explained that I was waiting for my son to come out so they did a quick check and decided to let me in as well. Yessssssssssss!!!

I then got to meet Satch, Vai and the rest of the musicians in the bands.

At the end of the evening I went to drive home only to find that my car was locked inside Hyde Park. Initially I'd resigned myself to sleeping in the car until the gates open at 6am, but the police saw me and decided to let me out.

All in all a great evening.
I gave this gig a 10 because the whole thing was a major musical highlight for me.

What can I say!!! First G3 concert I've been to and it was everything I imagined. Brilliant!! Not to sure about Fripp though. Didn't really seem to fit in for me and I will admit that I was of the many who went to the bar five mins into his set. It was just so boring. Didn't look like he really wanted to be there....especially when he didn't even bow at the end. THAT WAS JUST RUDE. Vai and Satch were awsome as expected though which made up for it. Highlight for me was War...what a great track. Awesome!!!! Anyway, its got me hooked. Hope its not too long before you come back to England. Thanks for a great night.......BRILLIANT!!